HANLEY HOME

Akilah Moore sits on her bed next to Julia Mitchell, both attempting to comprehend what her brother Vince has just told them. "What do you mean Kelli is missing?"

"Sara said she's disappeared from the compound they're staying at," Vince says. "She's been missing for almost two weeks now. Sara has tried contacting the authorities there, but they're no help. And no one can seem to get in contact with Kelli's parents either."

"Why don't you call Blake and have him contact them?" Julia says.

"Blake won't be of any help," Vince says dismissively.

"Then what are you going to do?" Akilah says.

"I'm going to South Africa, obviously," Vince says. "Kelli's more than just an ex-girlfriend. She's like family to us."

"Of course," Julia says. "And I think we should go with you."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Vince says.

"No, I think it's a great idea. Right, Akilah?"

Akilah stares blankly at Julia for a moment, then turns to Vince. "Julia's right."

Vince folds his arms defiantly. "Fine. But I want you two staying out of trouble."

"Cross our hearts," Julia says, smiling.

"Alright, now comes the hard part," Vince says.

"What's that?"

"Convincing Michael to lend us the private jet so we can go traipsing across the globe," Vince says, frowning.

MICHAEL HANLEY'S STUDY

Denise Price sits at Michael Hanley's desk, her feet propped up on the table. She chews bubblegum as Michael enters the office, glaring at her disregard for his personal workspace.

"Please remove your feet from my desk," Michael says, unbuttoning his suit jacket.

Denise ignores him. "What's the reason for this meeting of the minds?"

"I wanted to welcome you to my home. Formally."

"You've already done that," Denise says.

"You know, we have a lot in common, Denise," Michael says. "We both want to stay with our spouses."

Denise narrows her eyes at him. "And which spouse would you be talking about? Leslie...or Elizabeth?"

Michael laughs, approaching the desk. "I'd like Leslie to be happy. And she was happy until Sean came back into her life, throwing it into upheaval. She assumed that he was dead for six years."

"That's too bad for her," Denise says. "He's my husband now."

"You're absolutely correct," Michael says. "Now, there's just the problem of his marriage to Leslie invalidating yours. And mine. However...if perhaps you remembered Sean taking the steps to divorce Leslie, we might have some wiggle room with regards to validating our respective marriages in court."

Denise lowers her feet and sits up straight in the chair. "Look at you. Glass of bourbon. Expensive suit. Not a single hair out of place. You've got all the swagger of a man who gets what he wants, whenever he wants."

She walks toward the door, patting him on the chest. "But there's one thing you can't even hide with your pricey cologne...you reek."

"Excuse me?" Michael demands.

"You've got sleaze all over you. And you're not about to get it on me," Denise says. "I'm walking out of this place with my husband. But it ain't gonna be because I get entangled in whatever the hell you're planning on doing to this woman you're pretending to care about."



ST. THOMAS CHURCH

Detective Jamie Grady sits at his brother's desk, running his fingers along the surface. He fights hard to keep the tears from swelling in his eyes as he tries imagining his brother's last moments alive.

He knows that Thomas was at the church before his body was discovered in Emerald Square, one of the parishioners said they saw him before he left. But Jamie doesn't know why he was here so late...and why anyone would have wanted to attack his brother.

He's interrupted as his cell phone rings. He checks the Caller ID and sees that it's Joel Kincaid calling.

"What's up, Joel?" Jamie says.

"Are you at the church?"

"Yeah...I'm sitting at my brother's desk."

"Fuck, Jamie. Are you sure you should be doing this? You should let someone else take care of it."

"No," Jamie says. "I've got the feeling that this is all connected to...to the murders at the Montag factory."

He absentmindedly turns on Joel's computer, finding an e-mail message displayed on the screen. Jamie, I know what happened to Akilah when she was missing. I know why her cell phone was lying in the bushes, and I know why the crucifix fell off the wall when she was in my office at the high school —

"Joel...I think there's something you need to see," Jamie says. "Get down to the church as soon as —"

Suddenly, Jamie is struck by a large blow to the back of his head. He groans in pain and slides out of the chair, sprawling across the floor. His assailant picks up Jamie's fallen cell phone and shuts it off, silencing Joel's worried cries.



HANLEY HOME

"Drinking already?" Vince says, entering Michael's study to find his stepfather downing a glass of bourbon.

"If you'd met our new houseguest, you'd understand," Michael says.

"New houseguest?"

"Apparently, your father was married in New York," Michael says. "His wife is now living with us. As is your father."

"Oh," Vince says. "Akilah and I have been in the west wing all day. I guess we didn't hear all the commotion. But no one ever tells us anything anyway."

"You should go see your mother."

"Honestly, I don't really give a damn about whatever's going on with Sean Moore," Vince says. "I came to ask you a favor."



Alec Bale breezes past Riley Schaefer as he enters the house in a huff. Riley quickly grabs Alec by the arm and spins him around. "Excuse me, young man. What is it that you want?"

"Where the hell is Vince?" Alec says, waving a large envelope around. "I know he's responsible for getting Jessica to divorce me."

Riley rolls his eyes contemptuously. "Vince is meeting with Michael right now. And though I highly doubt he wants to see you, you may wait for him in the living room."

"Whatever."

Alec goes to the couch and sits down, waiting for Riley to leave. Once the coast is clear, he stalks toward Michael's office and listens outside.

"You want the private jet to fly to South Africa?" Michael says.

"I think Kelli's in trouble," Vince says. "And so is Sara."

"Sara's in trouble?" Alec says, his voice just at a whisper. He had no idea there was anything wrong with his cousin.

Alec's phone vibrates in his pocket. As he removes it from his pocket, he sees that Darren is calling him. He ignores the call, shoving the phone back into his pocket.

There's not a chance in hell Alec is going to sign those divorce papers. And there's just about one way to ensure that Darren and Jessica won't be able to track him down and force him to.

I hope Vince has room for one more on that jet...